Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:
- An Arizona federal district court held that the Scottsdale City Council did not discriminate against The Satanic Temple (TST) by barring the group from giving an invocation at the Council’s monthly meeting, but reaffirmed that TST’s beliefs and practices constitute religious beliefs.
- A Massachusetts federal district court denied a motion for summary judgment filed by the Camp Organization, a Christian group that sued the City of Boston for denying the request to fly a Christian-themed flag in Boston’s City Hall Plaza.
- An Alabama federal district court held that a provision in a city permit restricting the volume levels of pro-life sidewalk abortion counselors did not violate plaintiffs’ rights to free speech or free exercise of religion.
- President Trump and Vice President Pence spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, where Pence called the United States “a nation of faith.”
- Senator Mitt Romney cited his faith as one of the central factors in his vote to convict President Trump on one of two articles of impeachment.
- Russian law enforcement authorities continue to escalate nationwide persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
- Twenty-seven countries formally created the International Religious Freedom Alliance and pledged to reduce religious persecution across the globe.